1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc cartridge loading apparatus in a recording and/or reproducing apparatus by means of which a disc cartridge housing a disc employed as a recording medium for information signals therein is loaded on a cartridge loading unit within the recording and/or reproducing apparatus. More particularly, it relates to such disc cartridge loading apparatus which may be applied to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus in which drive a supporting base plate, having loaded thereon a disc rotating and driving unit and recording and/or reproducing means recording and/or reproducing information signals on or from the disc, is flexibly supported via elastic supporting means on a stationary substrate constituting or fixedly mounted on the main body of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing a disc cartridge having a disc housed therein as a recording/reproducing medium is usually provided with a loading mechanism whereby the disc cartridge inserted into the main body of the apparatus is automatically captured and caused to be supported in position on the cartridge loading unit in the main body of the apparatus and the disc housed in the disc cartridge is loaded on the disc rotating and driving unit, and whereby the disc is released from the disc rotating and driving unit and automatically ejected out of the main body of the apparatus.
This type of the recording/reproducing apparatus is made up of a drive supporting base plate and an outer housing member having enclosed therein the drive supporting base plate. On the drive supporting base plate, there are mounted the disc rotating and driving unit, an optical pickup as recording/reproducing means and a pickup driving unit for moving the optical pickup radially with respect to the disc.
In a desk top type recording/reproducing apparatus, the drive supporting base plate is secured to the stationary substrate constituting or fixedly mounted on the main body of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus.
Meanwhile, a portable type or car-laden recording/reproducing apparatus is subject to vibrations applied from outside. If the apparatus is used in an environment subject to extraneous vibrations, the disc cannot be stably rotated, and a stable feed operation of the optical pickup cannot be made. The result is that the recording track on the disc cannot be tracked correctly by a light beam radiated from the optical pickup for recording/reproducing information signals thereby rendering it impossible to effect recording/reproduction of information signals.
For this reason, in a portable type or car-laden recording/reproducing apparatus, the drive supporting base plate is mounted on the stationary substrate via a vibration-absorbing unit capable of absorbing the extraneous vibrations. The vibration absorbing unit is formed of rubber so that the drive supporting base plate is supported in a floating state and capable of being easily displaced with respect to the stationary substrate.
On the other hand, the loading mechanism for automatically capturing the disc cartridge introduced into the main body of the apparatus and loading it on the cartridge loading unit in the main body for loading the disc housed in the disc cartridge on the disc rotating and driving unit is arranged on the outer housing member. This is because the disc cartridge introduced via cartridge insertion/ejection opening provided on the outer housing member is to be reliably held and captured into the inside of the apparatus and the disc cartridge ejected from the apparatus is also to be transferred positively to the cartridge insertion/ejection opening.
In the above-described recording and/or reproducing apparatus in which the drive supporting base plate is supported in a floating state on a stationary substrate constituting or fixedly mounted on the main body of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and the loading mechanism is arranged on the stationary substrate, the drive supporting base plate, on which the disc cartridge is loaded, is not fixed in position, but tends to be displaced easily. The result is that it becomes impossible to load the disc cartridge in position on the cartridge loading unit for loading the disc reliably on the disc rotating and driving unit.
Consequently, it has been proposed to provide in this type of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus a locking unit for securing the drive supporting base plate to the stationary housing member during the loading and unloading of the disc cartridge into or out of the main body of the apparatus.
A typical example of this type of the apparatus is shown in JP Patent KOKAI Publications Nos. 60-115087 (1985) and 60-147964 (1985).
However, the conventional locking unit for securing the drive supporting base plate to the stationary substrate is independent of the loading unit and makes use of a solenoid plunger or a driving motor as a driving source, so that it complicates the mechanism, and makes the recording/reproducing apparatus bulky in size, thus proving to be a hindrance to reduction in size and weight of the apparatus.